The Bed Bath Paradigm Shift
by starfish001
Summary: It's angst. There's a car crash. Someone gets hurt. Some feelings are confronted. I'm not sure I could have squeezed in any more cliches if I'd tried... Rating is probably excessive, but just in case.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Please ignore the many plot holes, this one requires some suspension of disbelief…

* * *

"You _still_ haven't checked your engine? Penny, do you have some sort of active death wish or are you just disregarding my advice to spite me?"

She sighed. This was absolutely the _last_ time she was driving Sheldon Cooper anywhere. Less than 30 seconds in the car and he had already clocked the check engine light blinking traitorously away. She listened to him reel off accident statistics and wished she had the cash to get it looked at. Or the time. Or, frankly, the inclination. Car maintenance was low on her list of priorities right now.

She quickly glanced over at him as they sat at some lights, not wanting to allow her gaze to linger for fear of him noticing and starting another lecture. As it was he was quiet, staring out of the window at a couple walking together on the sidewalk. She watched him watch them and wondered; _what are you thinking?_

It was only when he replied that she realized she must have spoken out loud.

"I am trying to interpret their body language. It seems peculiar. The woman is talking to him, and he is holding her hand, but his posture and expression indicate disinterest." He turned to look at her. "I don't understand why one would remain in a relationship if one felt no attraction for the other person."

She blinked. From fatal road accidents to relationships in under twenty seconds…he never ceased to surprise her. "Since when could you read body language? And why do you even want to? I thought that stuff was beneath you." If he had been bothered by the sarcasm in her tone – had even detected it - he didn't show it. He watched the pair again as he answered. "It is something I struggle with, and I don't like to be bad at things. Hence, I've been reading some psychology textbooks. Pseudoscientific drivel, mostly, of course, but some of it has proved… enlightening."

She briefly considered asking him more about it, but decided not to risk inviting an incomprehensible monologue. "Well just because he doesn't look interested right now doesn't mean he isn't attracted to her, Sheldon. Maybe she's just talking about something boring, or maybe they had an argument." She frowned.

"Hmm. No, I don't think that's it." She rolled her eyes. Of course he didn't. He turned in his seat to face her again as the lights turned to green. "I often talk about things that bore you, and yet you have never just ignored me like that."

She put the car in drive and pulled off. "Well no, but that's because I'm polite." She grinned at him, daring him to disagree. "And anyway, we're not in a relationship. Relationships are more complicated." She glanced over at him. He was studying her with an intensity she had only ever seen him reserve for goop under his microscope.

It was such a disconcerting feeling, it was a few seconds before her eyes caught a flash of movement and were drawn to his window. Or more specifically, to the white van that had just jumped the lights and was headed straight for them.

Sheldon must have registered the terror on her face, as he started to turn towards the window. Thankfully though, not quickly enough.

She figured he must have been unconscious before he really knew what was happening.

She hoped, anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Relationships are more complicated." _

Sheldon studied Penny as she said that. There was a wistfulness in her voice that he attributed to bitter break ups and broken hearts. He didn't claim to understand it all, but he'd seen the effects it had had. She had been single now for over six months, and even Leonard had seemingly abandoned all hope and was dating Leslie Winkle again.

He had never been in a relationship, and by and large he was comfortable with that. His work was important (ok, that was an understatement; his work was _vital_) and he didn't need the distractions that women seemed to bring. Admittedly, he had some urges that occasionally required satisfying, but that's what high speed broadband was for.

He thought over the first bit of the sentence. _"And anyway, we're not in a relationship". _It had surprised him. He couldn't _not_ notice that Penny was a beautiful woman; the reactions of those around him would have been enough to tell him that if his eyes had failed him. And maybe, sometimes, she crept into his head and displaced Seven of Nine in his dreams. But he could honestly say that the thought of being in a relationship with Penny had never crossed his mind. Nor had the thought of being in one with _any_ woman in particular, but it seemed strange given that Penny was one of the only women who had never seemed completely disturbed by him. Ramona was the other, of course, but she was clearly not relationship material. He suppressed a shudder, and realised he had been staring at Penny.

He was trying to gather his thoughts, when he noticed her eyes flick to look past him. Something flashed across her face. Something terrible. It was enough to give him a brief moment of panic as he tried to turn to see what she was seeing, but then there was just an immense sense of _force…_then nothing but heaviness and silence and darkness.

…

She opened her eyes when she felt the world stop spinning, and was relieved to find that they were upright. The car was facing oncoming traffic and she could see a sea of concerned faces peering in through the windscreen. She could feel pain, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. There was blood on her top. Her head was fuzzy, but something told her she wasn't bleeding. A cold chill crept over her.

"Sheldon?" she looked over at him and the word caught in her throat. He was slumped in his seat, the right side of his head bleeding from the impact. His arm was at a funny angle and she thought maybe she saw bone; she quickly buried the image before it reached her stomach. Otherwise, he looked uninjured, like he was sleeping. She reached out and took the hand nearest to her, squeezing hard. "Sheldon! Are you ok?" He didn't react and for the first time she felt herself begin to lose control. Tears started rolling down her face. "Sheldon, please…oh god, Sheldon…" she was almost screaming as she fought to release her seatbelt and leaned over to shake him. He just laid there, a trickle of blood slowly reaching his jaw before dropping onto his Flash t-shirt. She slumped back in the seat, sobbing openly, as someone opened her door and asked her where it hurt.


	3. Chapter 3

They had given her something for the pain, which had had the added effect of calming her down enough to get her out of the car. She sat in the back of the ambulance and watched as they cut the roof off and put him on a stretcher. She heard snatches of conversation. _Compound fracture…head contusion... unconscious… recovery…_ She felt overwhelming relief.

_He had looked dead. _

She hadn't let herself think it, but now that she knew he wasn't it was all she could think of. She started sobbing again and reached for her cell.

…

It was dark. He was aware of the dark now, however, which was an improvement on several seconds ago, when there had been _nothing_. He could hear something, it sounded like shouting. But it sounded like it was coming from a huge distance, and when he tried to ask who was there nothing happened. His mouth wouldn't form words. Actually, he wasn't even sure he had a mouth. Everything seemed very far away and slightly _numb_.

Hmm. Interesting.

He found he couldn't focus on any of his thoughts; when he tried to think about why it was so dark it slipped away. It was like trying to catch a speck of dust in a puddle of water. Something about particles…maybe…maybe he could know who was shouting… or what had happened… but not both? What did _that_ mean? It was disconcerting. And very quickly it became scary.

Just as he began to feel a swell of panic though, there was a feeling from his body. Someone had grasped his hand and was squeezing hard. _Very_ hard. He had never particularly liked being touched, but right now it was the greatest feeling in his suddenly very limited world. The feeling eased the panic slightly, and he vaguely decided not to worry about everything else for a while.

The sense of calm lasted until he felt himself being moved, when suddenly the numb sensation seemed like it had been a blessing. Luckily the pain was as brief as it was intense, as he returned to the place where there was no dark, no _anything_ again.


	4. Chapter 4

Penny sat with Leonard in the waiting room outside the ICU. She had argued with the nurse in the ER until they had agreed to let her sign out AMA. She was bruised where the seatbelt had restrained her, and had some whiplash, but was otherwise undamaged. Leonard had briefly tried to persuade her that staying in for observation was a good idea, but she had pointed out that Cheesecake Factory insurance wasn't particularly generous. He offered to pay. Eventually they compromised; she agreed that he could stay with her to make sure she didn't have a concussion, but there was no way she was spending the night in hospital. Not in a bed, anyway.

Now she was waiting to see Sheldon. The medics were setting his arm. He had been lucky, apparently; the van hadn't struck the passenger seat directly.

The other driver was dead.

The doctor had told them Sheldon was still unconscious, and that they didn't know how long it would be before he woke up, and she felt sick. Leonard didn't look too good either, and she suspected he felt guilty over hiding from Sheldon when he had needed a ride. She was feeling plenty of that herself. He had filled Raj and Howard in, told them there wasn't much point in coming in just yet, and promised to phone with any news. Then they had just sat.

…

Walking into the room was the hardest thing she'd ever done. The feeling was similar to before an audition; that sick, butterfly flutter in her belly and the mixture of dread and anticipation. The harsh smell of antiseptic stung, but raised a half smile too; Sheldon would approve. It brought back old memories; blurry images of her uncle, stick thin and ash grey, sucking on an oxygen mask as cancer had consumed him in a hospital a thousand miles away. The association made her pause at the doorway but she forced the image away; she needed to be strong.

She thought she had been prepared, but she realised she had been fooling herself. Objectively, she could see it wasn't so bad; he still looked like he was sleeping, and someone had obviously cleaned up the blood. But the image of him lying there, hurt and vulnerable, stole her breath from her. His normally pale pallor was magnified under the harsh, clinical lights, his eyes ringed with deep black circles. The cast on his arm and bandage on his head were the only outward signs of damage, but she could make out wires snaking under his gown and tubes going into a cannula on the back of his uninjured hand. It was quiet but for the regular beep of the monitor that reeled off numbers that she didn't understand but that probably meant the difference between life and death.

Leonard was outside asking the doctor about brain damage; she couldn't stand to consider the possibility and had left them to it, needing to be alone with Sheldon. But now that she was here she wished she hadn't. She walked up to the bed and gently stroked the back of his hand, being careful to avoid the tubes.

"Hey sweetie" she whispered, her voice croaky after so many tears. "You wanna wake up for me?"

She pulled over a chair and sat, listening to his silence, stroking over and over the same spot on the back of his hand.

She was lost in her thoughts when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Leonard was staring at his friend; she had forgotten this was the first time he was seeing him like this and she thought back to how it had felt in the car. She wouldn't wish that on anybody. He cleared his throat and spoke, his eyes never leaving Sheldon. "The doc says there's no way of knowing right now. He could wake up in a week and be fine, or he could wake up tomorrow and be…y'know." He paused over the implication. "There's just too many variables." He swallowed and she reached up, placing her hand over his.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey sweetie. You wanna wake up for me?_

He heard the words, but didn't immediately realise they were meant for him. The voice sounded familiar though, and he tried to open his eyes to see who it was. It was as he lay there, willing them to open and feeling increasingly annoyed that they wouldn't, that he remembered.

_Oh_.

Huh. He remembered being in a car _(who's car?) _and then an impact…and then this. His arm hurt, but it was a distant pain muffled by medication. There was beeping, and the reassuring smell of disinfectant. Hospital, then. And he couldn't open his eyes. Or, in fact, move anything. That was less reassuring. He became conscious of a sensation on his hand; someone seemed to be rubbing circles on it. That was good, he could still feel things. He shifted his attention to the person in the room. The woman seemed to know him well. He wracked his brain, but there was just a blank space where the information should be. He couldn't even picture her. She smelled pleasant though.

Suddenly there was a man's voice. _Leonard_. He knew Leonard. The knowledge was still there, and he felt a pang of relief. It occurred to him that his memory seemed…patchy. What else might be missing? Would he even notice…? After a brief panicky search through his internal filing system, he found his virtual encyclopaedias and theories-in-progress. He relaxed. The important bits appeared intact. The memory of the mysterious woman might return when he was less hazy with medication, he decided. He was feeling drowsy. The few minutes he had been aware seemed to have exhausted him, and when he felt himself being pulled down into whatever passed for sleep here, he went with it.


	6. Chapter 6

12 hours later:

Leonard had sent Penny home for some sleep and a shower. She had called work from the hospital and told them she wouldn't be in for a few days; they had threatened to fire her and she had threatened to report them for a health code violation, and an uneasy truce had been come to. He sat in her chair and watched his friend breathe. He focussed on that; he could breathe by himself. Surely that was a positive?

It was disconcerting to see him so quiet and still. He kept expecting him to sit up and lecture him for not ensuring the staff had put him in the correct pyjamas. He took a quick look to check the door was closed, then whistled a snatch of the Star Wars theme.

Nothing.

He cleared his throat.

"Sheldon? Erm. I don't know if you can hear me? But…the doctors think you probably can, so they said I should talk to you." He thought for a minute. This was hard. "Oh. I phoned your mom, her and Missy are coming up." That was a conversation he never wanted to have again, ever. "They said they haven't been able to get hold of your brother yet. They're pretty worried about you… well. We all are. Howard and Raj are coming up later too. Leslie sends her…regards…" Leslie had actually made a pretty tasteless joke about the lengths Sheldon would go to to get a brain scan. He had hung up on her. He figured Sheldon didn't need to know that.

"I think Penny's feeling really bad. She's ok, by the way…a bit bruised but nothing major…but she's feeling guilty. I mean, I told her it wasn't her fault, but she's taken it pretty hard. So if you could, y'know…wake up, I'm sure that would make her feel a lot better. It would actually make me feel a lot better, too."

…

It was strange listening to Leonard talk. He seemed to be able to stay awake for longer periods now, which he took to be a good sign, and wished he had some way to communicate to them that he was, by and large, ok. The inability to move was still _(terrifying)_ disconcerting but he still had his mind. Or most of it.

He assumed Penny was the woman who had been here earlier, and by the sound of it had been the person driving the car. He wondered why he couldn't remember her. He missed her stroking his hand.

…

Sheldon's mom and Missy arrived shortly after. Leonard made himself scarce; Mrs Cooper's faith that Jesus would take care of 'her Shelly' did nothing to soothe his worries and he went for some fresh air. Missy came and found him half an hour later and gave him a hug, eyes red rimmed and bloodshot. They sat in silence for a while before she steeled herself to return inside, giving him a peck on the cheek as she left.

…

Penny blasted the shower as hot as she could bear and shut her eyes. She couldn't get warm. It was painful to be in here right now, surrounded by wicker baskets full of bath stuff Sheldon had given her at Christmas. She had been working her way through them but always seemed to have tons left. She remembered the look on his face when she gave him that stupid napkin, and the hug he had given her. She took deep breaths. She couldn't keep crying about this, it wasn't helping anyone. She thought back to her uncle, and decided to do something useful.


	7. Chapter 7

"So then the stripper says, '_Mr_, _that's not jello'!_"

Howard and Raj had been there an hour. Howard had done most of the talking, and Raj had sat there wincing occasionally and going "Dude, that's not cool" whenever he crossed a line. He felt instinctively that there were certain things one shouldn't discuss with a man in a coma, and Howard had managed to cover just about all of them. Raj was beginning to think Howard's plan was to disgust Sheldon into waking up.

Well, it was a kind-of plan. It had been two days since the accident and there had been no observable change. He had been moved out of ICU and had most of the wires and stuff removed; there was just a drip keeping him hydrated and tube that disappeared under the covers that Raj didn't want to think about, but was being very careful not to stand on. Between the group and Sheldon's family, there had been someone with him almost constantly. He considered the possibility that Sheldon had finally found somewhere he could devote himself to his work; he didn't have to be social or attend to any of the annoying daily tasks that interrupted precious String Theory time. Maybe he didn't want to wake up.

He looked at Sheldon's blank expression and imagined he was the one being forced to listen to Wolowitz's stories. "I think maybe we should let him get some rest now". Howard nodded. He lifted Sheldon's good hand and gave it a high five. "Later, my man." Raj paused for a second before patting the top of Sheldon's arm. "Bye dude. Hang on in there."

He had to drag Howard away from the nurse's station where he was trying the 'my best friend's in a coma' line for the 50th unsuccessful time.

…

Sheldon listened to them leave and promised that when _(if)_ he woke up, Howard was getting banished and Raj would be forgiven his glutamine/lysine error. An hour listening to Wolowitz and he had an urge to scrub his brain clean. At least they had reduced his pain medication and he could return to his work. He cleared his internal whiteboard and mentally scribbled his calculations again. At this rate he could have a grand unified theory by Thanksgiving.


	8. Chapter 8

Penny found her emergency key to the guys apartment and let herself in. It was eerily quiet. She went to the bathroom and got what she needed, then paused at the door to Sheldon's room. She had never felt like she was intruding more, but she needed to be in there. She stepped inside and, fighting the urge to go rummaging, quickly found what she was looking for, making sure to leave everything else exactly as she found it. Throwing one last look at the un-slept in bed, she crept out.

There was a nurse in with him when she got back to the hospital, but the rest of the guys must have left.

"Erm, hi" she hovered in the doorway as the nurse scribbled something on a chart. She looked up and smiled at Penny. "Hi hon. Are you the girlfriend?"

The lie tripped off her tongue. "Yeah. Can I…?" she gestured to come in. "Sure." The nurse cast a glance at Sheldon. "He's a handsome one, isn't he? I was just gonna tidy him up a bit."

Penny showed her the bag she held. "Actually, I brought some stuff. Can I help?"

"Oh, sure. I already unhooked the tubes." The nurse smiled at her sympathetically. She started to run some hot water in a bowl and Penny unpacked the items she had brought from his apartment. A bar of his unscented antibacterial soap, a comb, shaving foam, a razor, and a pair of his pyjamas with a little 'Tuesday' label sown in.

Suddenly, the pager on the nurse's belt went off. Penny jumped and the nurse ran for the door, handing her the bowl and flannel as she smiled a _sorry_.

She waited a few minutes, but the nurse didn't return, so she decided to press on alone.

"Hey Sheldon, it's me. Penny. Erm, this might be a bit awkward, but I thought you might like a wash and some fresh clothes. I brought your Tuesday pyjamas. And I know you can't see, but you have got some serious stubble going on, so I'm gonna give you a shave. And your fingernails need cutting, you could do someone an injury with those claws… "

She soaped up the flannel and set off, starting with his face; she remembered her uncle complaining that he always felt grubby from lying in bed all day, and what a difference it made when he could feel clean. She wondered if it was guilt driving her to do this for him, then decided her motives weren't important. She vaguely remembered a line from a play; _that way madness lies. _Don't question it.

It was weird at first, doing something so intimate for someone she didn't know _intimately_, but she found if she chatted to him as she worked it distracted her from the oddness, so she talked about her family. She thought for a second when she reached his chest, then remembered; counter-clockwise. She hesitated at his waistline, then decided they were both adults and if the nurse was going to do it, than so should she. Her stream of chat didn't break throughout and she hoped she wasn't making him uncomfortable. She cleaned his mouth carefully with a little sponge on a stick, then pulled out the razor. He did look cute with the stubble, she mused, but she had never seen him voluntarily hairy so figured he would appreciate a shave. She hadn't realised how fiddly shaving a man was, and she winced as she nicked him. "Sorry sweetie…" She gently wiped the last of the foam off and held his chin, ostensibly checking for any bits she'd missed, but mostly savouring the opportunity to be this close to him. She realised painfully that she missed his eyes.

She forced herself to pull away; looked at the plaid pyjamas, and looked at him, and tried to remember how the nurses had dressed her uncle. There was a lot of rolling, she remembered. After 20 minutes of hauling him about the bed, she was sweating like a heifer but had him looking much more himself. Finally, she pulled out her nail file and lugged her chair close to the bed, taking a careful hold of his long fingers. As she filed, she talked some more; about how her father had wanted another boy and how she always felt she let him down, how she hated the Cheesecake Factory, how hurt she had been by Kurt and how she felt she had never recovered. She talked about Leonard, and how she cared for him, but how it didn't feel _right_.

Sheldon listened to it all. His discomfort at being manhandled _(ye gods, the woman was strong!)_ faded as he grew accustomed to it, and he did feel better after a wash. He found he was less embarrassed than he thought about getting a bed bath, and it helped that he didn't have to respond. On the contrary, all he really had to do was _not_ respond, and he found that was helped immensely by imagining that the woman washing his genitals was actually Wolowitz. Feeling the razor running over his skin was daunting, so he tried to distract himself by focussing on the sound of her voice and the feel of her fingers as she ran them over his cheek, checking for bits she'd missed. He learnt a lot about Penny, but the information left him confused. Clearly, they weren't dating; he hadn't really expected he would have a girlfriend he would have forgotten about, and her references to her relationship with Leonard convinced him of that. But then, that begged the question; what exactly was she doing giving him a bed bath?

Leonard watched all of this through a small crack in the door, and wondered much the same himself.


	9. Chapter 9

A few days later and Penny had settled into a routine; lunch shift at the Cheesecake Factory, then straight to the hospital where she would see to Sheldon's ablutions before the guys came to visit. She was half way through a bed bath, chatting to him about the episode of Dr Who that had been on the previous night, when Missy walked in. She froze with the flannel on his chest.

"Erm, hi…" She looked down at what she was doing and suddenly felt embarrassed, but Missy just gave her a small smile. "Hi hon. Any change?"

Penny shook her head. "Nope. How's your mom?" She slowly started washing his chest again.

Missy sighed. "She's holdin' up. Spends mosta the time in the chapel prayin' the Lord'll bring Shelly back soon. Helps her, anyhow." She watched Penny wring out the flannel for a minute, clearly looking for the right words to say something.

"There somethin' I should know here hon? Just I ain't sure Shelly would be too pleased 'bout having someone all over him, y'know?"

Penny flushed. "I think it'll be ok. He makes me look after him when he's sick sometimes." She looked down at him and frowned affectionately. "Damn VapoRub stinks."

Missy looked at her thoughtfully. The expression was so similar to Sheldon's that Penny had to look away. "Huh. You care for him, don'tcha?" Penny swallowed hard, then stared up at her defiantly. "He's a good friend." Missy laughed. "Ok, gotcha." She paused, deliberated over her words. "I know he's weird. Hell, he's _damn_ weird, and that's comin' from someone who loves him. An' frankly, he's a complete pain in the _ass_ as a brother. But I also know, if he ever falls in love, he's gonna treat that woman like she's the only one on this Earth. 'Cause to him, hon, she _will_ be."

Penny looked her in the eye. "You think that'll ever happen? You think he'll ever fall in love?"

Missy looked right back at her. "Sweetie, he loves me and he loves his brother and he sure as hell loves his Mamma. So why not?"

…

Sheldon listened to the women talking. Normally he tried to tune out most of what his sister said – it was invariably uninteresting – but the line about VapoRub had jarred his memory, and he got an image of a pretty blonde massaging it into his chest. So that was Penny, the woman giving him daily sponge baths. Interesting. The thought prompted another scene; he was holding a pair of silk panties – something told him they were hers - and feeling… frustrated.

For some reason, this second image also made him think of his mother.

Huh.

He appeared to have a somewhat _odd_ relationship with this woman.


	10. Chapter 10

Penny flopped on her sofa, exhausted and cursing her boss. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up. Her stints at the hospital were draining her, physically and emotionally, but she couldn't imagine not doing them. She poured herself a large glass of wine and kicked off her shoes. There was a knock at the door and she made a frustrated noise.

"Who is it?!" she yelled from the sofa. "It's me, Leonard. Can I talk to you?" Leonard's voice replied. She felt her heart sink. Now was not the time to talk about their non-existent relationship, but she didn't have the heart to send him away. "It's open."

He let himself in and sat next to her. She looked at him, waiting for him to speak.

"Ok, so I'm just gonna come out and ask…" he looked nervous. "Was there something…going on…with you and Sheldon? Before the accident?"

The look of shock on her face was obviously enough to give him his answer and he waved his hands. "Ok, no, cool. I'm sorry I asked. Let's just pretend I didn't." He got up to leave.

"Wait! Leonard, what the hell made you ask me that?!" She jumped to her feet, feeling inexplicably angry at the suggestion.

He looked at her, bemused. "You really can't see why?"

"No. So please, fill me in."

"Penny…you're there more than any of us, more than Missy and his mom, even. You're telling him all kinds of stuff, stuff you wouldn't even talk to _me_ about when we were dating. I mean, you're giving him sponge baths, for God's sake! Can you not see how that looks?"

Suddenly, she could, and it shocked her. But she regrouped admirably. "You spied on me?!" Leonard rolled his eyes. "No. I saw you, and heard you. The door was open. That's all." He studied her. "You know, it's ok. If you do like him, I mean. I'm not gonna object or anything..." He saw the look on her face, and hurriedly added "…not that that would make any difference. But I wouldn't."

She eyed him suspiciously. "Why not?"

He sighed. "Life's too short, Penny. If this accident has taught me anything, it's that. If you like Sheldon…" he winced "…you should go for it." That wasn't a sentence he ever thought he'd be saying to a woman. Or even a man, come to that.

She slumped back onto the sofa, sighing in frustration. "Look, even if I did 'like' him – and I'm not saying I do! – it's irrelevant. He's in a coma and even if he wasn't, he wouldn't be interested in me. So let's just forget about it, and focus on getting him better. Ok?"

Leonard opened his mouth to argue, but decided against it. She looked worn out. And, frankly, he wasn't sure whether encouraging her would just lead to more heartache; he knew she and Sheldon had a peculiar rapport, but the more he looked at it the more he realised that this was the closest thing to a romantic relationship that Sheldon had _ever_ achieved. No other woman tolerated him, _liked_ him even, the way Penny did, and he let her get away with much more than he did anybody else. He'd even started acquiescing to some of _her_ rules. Hell, with Sheldon that could practically be considered a marriage.

But that didn't mean that Sheldon saw it that way.


	11. Chapter 11

The next day, Penny didn't go to work. She didn't go to the hospital either. Leonard knocked to see if she wanted a ride, but she said she wasn't feeling so good. He went alone.

Sitting next to Sheldon, he tried to picture him with Penny. Most of the scenes he pictured had them arguing; over her sitting in his spot, over his obstinence, over her beating him at Halo. Still, they say arguing is a sign of passion.

Urgh.

That thought was a step too far.

He cleared his throat. "Hey, Sheldon. Just me. How you doing in there?" He paused to give the pretend conversation some structure. "So. I…erm. I talked to Penny. I don't know how you managed it but, er. I think she likes you. Romantically. Whatever." He laughed dryly. "I spend two years fawning over her and get nowhere, you just needed five days in a coma and she's got it bad." He paused and smiled to himself. "You gotta wake up soon so you can tell me about those sponge baths."

…

Sheldon put down his imaginary whiteboard marker. This was interesting. Enough of his memory had returned that he knew Leonard had been lusting after Penny since she moved in. But Leonard seemed to be under the impression that Penny was interested in _him_.

Sheldon wasn't sure how he felt about that. He considered what he already knew.

He and Penny clearly had an up and down relationship. But that was already an improvement on relationships he had with other women, which seemed to be exclusively down.

She was willing to look after him when he was sick.

She got on with his family and friends.

She was aware of his…quirks…and appeared to tolerate them. Mostly.

She listened to him, even when he was talking about things she had no interest in.

She was beautiful.

On the other hand, his memories were also associated with feelings of frustration and irritation. She clearly drove him mad.

Could one have a relationship with someone who took you to the brink of insanity?

…

Penny sat on her sofa and thought. She thought about how nuts he drove her. How insufferable he could be. How arrogant he was, always believing he was right (_which he usually is_, a traitorous voice whispered). And then she thought about how she felt seeing him lying in that bed and that kinda sealed the deal for her.

Crap.

She grabbed her bag and headed for the hospital.


	12. Chapter 12

Leonard looked up when she walked in, and figured he should leave. On his way out she grabbed him, and pulled him into a hug. She whispered in his ear. _"Thanks"._

She waited till he had vanished down the hall, then sat on the bed next to Sheldon. She picked up his hand and stroked it, watching so her fingers didn't disturb the cannula embedded in it. She kept her eyes fixed on his hand as she spoke.

"Hi Sheldon. It's me. Sorry I'm late. I got caught up in some stuff." She paused, watched her fingers draw little patterns on his skin.

"I guess Leonard told you about our talk yesterday. I think…I think he was right, maybe. I think maybe I do feel something for you. I've been trying to work out if it's something I've always felt, or if it's something that's just been caused by seeing you…like this. And I can't tell. I don't know. I don't even know if I'll feel the same when you wake up." She sighed. "And I wasn't even sure whether to tell you, cause I think the chances of you liking me back are just so unbelievably small, but…but, it's been 5 days. And I don't know if you're ever _gonna_ wake up. And I didn't want to risk…I didn't want you _going anywhere_ without knowing how I felt." She swallowed, hard, a tear working its way down her cheek. "But I don't even know if you can hear me. Or maybe you can and you won't remember." She smiled through her tears. "God, that would probably be a good thing. Can you imagine us together?"

She sighed, sniffed and wiped her face on her sleeve. "God. Ok. So anyway, I figure there's only one thing we haven't tried and right now, I'm desperate." She checked quickly to make sure the door was shut; she didn't want an audience, this was embarrassing enough as it was. "Right, ok. This better work, mister."

She took a deep breath and started uncertainly:

"_Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur… happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr."_

Her voice was croaky, and she had to fight back the tears again as she sang the words. Finally she couldn't fight any more, and they spilled onto their entwined hands. For a long moment she just sat there, sobbing.

Then the hand in hers moved. It was an ever so gentle squeeze, but she jumped like she had been shocked. Her head whipped round to look at him; his eyes _(his amazing eyes)_ were open and he was staring straight at her. "Sheldon?!" She froze, afraid that if she moved the illusion would vanish. But he blinked at her, whispered to her.

"_Penny…I heard you. And I remember."_

She flung herself onto him, burying her hands in his hair, unable to stop herself from kissing him, devouring him with her mouth.

He brought his good arm up, gently cupping her side with his hand.

And kissed her back.


	13. Chapter 13

Epilogue

"Penny! Oh dear lord, how many times do I have to tell you? The Big Bran goes to the far _right_ of the cereals."

Penny turned and glared at him; his arm instinctively flew to cover his neck. She put the cereal back and sighed; the sooner that cast was off the sooner she wouldn't have to get up at 6am to make his breakfast. She was marking the few remaining days on her calendar. At least he'd started allowing her to sleep over so she didn't have to stagger so far in the morning, she thought.

She poured the milk into the bowl, daring him to say a word about the milk-to-cereal ratio, and brought it over to him on the couch. She flopped next to him and turned up the TV volume for Dr Who. He didn't touch the cereal, just watched her. "What now?" she asked. He looked at her seriously. "You look very beautiful when you're angry, you know Penny."

She grinned and leaned over, planting a big kiss on his lips. He flushed. It amused her that they had been sleeping together for nearly four weeks yet he still got embarrassed when she kissed him.

"Thank you sweetie. Now eat your cereal. It's losing all it's molecular consistency." She winked.

The pleased little smile she got in return turned her insides to mush. He was still a whack-a-doodle…but she loved him.


End file.
